ShangriLa Frontier ~ Shitty Games Hunter Challenges Godly Game ~

「You know what would be even funnier? If that normal octopus was able to kill us all simply by rolling over.
That would be the joke of a century.」

Ah, I see that you get it, Rust.
You must be one of “our” people then.
During trials like that one, it is important to stay positive and laugh in face of danger.
That way you won’t get frightened nearly as easily and you will not fall into despair.

Honestly…… Right now Kutanid looked rather pitiful.
Like an octopus that ended up having all of its tentacles ripped out of its body.
It was a really grotesque kind of a circle, with the octopi eyes slapped right in the middle of it.
But even those eyes were slowly starting to sink in the middle of its torso.
Finally Kutanid formed something that was resembling an apple-shaped cocoon, made out of a jet-black mass that looked unlike anything I have seen in my life.
Just then that mass started to distort in a strange way, as if something was trying to break free from the shell that was once known as Kutanid of the Abyss.

「FAR, FAR, I HAVE COME SO FAR.
I KNOW NOT OF HER HOMETOWN.
MY HOMETOWN WAS THE VAST SEA OF STARS.
AND HER SMILE WAS MY ONLY COMPANION.」

「Woah, somehow I get a feeling that this sentence came actually out of nowhere!」

「Does that mean we are finally going to fight its final form?」

「No, Rei.
I would not be so sure about that.
Let’s wait and see for now.
I feel that this thing was a pupa, so maybe there will be one more form before we are going to go against its final iteration.」

Suddenly, the movements of the black mass stops all at once.
Next thing is, before we even know it, the cocoon violently contracts.
It was then starting to shrink its size, growing gradually smaller and smaller.

「I WALK IN THIS WORLD, BUT I  AM NOT OF THIS WORLD.
I LACK THE FLESH.
I LACK THE BONES.
I LACK THE BLOOD THAT WOULD COURSE THROUGH MY VEINS.」

「You hear that, boneless! Boneless, it says! Welp, octopi are limp to begin with, so small wonder about that.」

「Bafugh! Bafuahahaha!」

「MOLD! GET A FUCKING GRIP!」

I was surprised that Akitsu Akane did not laugh at that joke.
And well, Mold was to be expected, since his laughing threshold is way lower than that of any ordinary person out there.

Well, I myself was not in the mood for joking, not as long as Kutanid was alive and kicking out there.
Maybe I’ll allow myself to have a good laugh once we make sure that this thing is truly dead and gone.

「I-It’s okay.
We are going to do this thing seriously.
So Rust, Sanraku-san, please stop looking at me as though you want to set me on fire with your minds, okay!?」

Gamers are a truly mysterious people.
Depending on the circumstances at hand, we can adapt  to any situation and change our attitude at will.
And it’s okay Mold, it’s okay now.
No one’s going to set you on fire, so relax, man! Please don’t look at us like a lamb that’s realized that it is going right into the slaughterhouse! Good boy, good boy.

「IF SO, I WILL MAKE ALL DELUSIONS A REALITY.
I WILL TURN ILLUSIONS INTO SOLID MATTER.
THEN I SHALL EMERGE OUT OF THE FANTASIES.
THAT IS WHY, THAT IS EXACTLY WHY I SHALL SHED THE VIRTUAL SKIN AND DONE BOTH FLESH AND BLOOD.」